It was close for a while, but Arizona State pulled away in the second half to knock off Colorado by a score of 51-17. It was a slow start for Arizona State, but the Sun Devils exploded in the second half for 31 points. Rashad Ross dashed many Buffaloes’ dreams of a comeback when he returned the opening second-half kickoff for a touchdown to put ASU back up by double-digits.
At the end of the day, Colorado’s defense couldn’t slow down the Sun Devils. The Buffs’ defense would come up with a big play here and there, but the Sun Devils consistently responded with one or two of their own; 11 Arizona State plays from scrimmage went for at least 20 yards. How often do you see a team score 51 points and not a run a play inside the opponent’s 10-yard line? That’s pretty crazy to think about.
The high-profile contest this Saturday takes place in a non-Pac-12 venue, as No. 17 Stanford heads to South Bend to take on the No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. With the first BCS poll dropping this Sunday, there are huge BCS implications for the Notre Dame-Stanford game. Needless to say, this game presents another test for the Cardinal.
Another big non-conference game for the Pac takes place in Provo, where independent BYU hosts No. 10 Oregon State. While the Beavers were under a lot of media scrutiny this week with Sean Mannion getting injured, Mike Riley says there wasn’t any drama in house. Just a good week of work for the Beavs is all.
Now on to pivotal Pac-12 games. The Huskies’ brutal stretch continues on Saturday when Washington faces No. 11 USC in Seattle. Head coach Lane Kiffin will continue calling plays on offense for USC, while the Huskies hope to ground USC’s aerial attack.
The lone Pac-12 South battle on Saturday takes place in the Rose Bowl, where UCLA plays host to Utah. In reviewing the film, Jim Mora has great things to say about Star Lotulelei and the Utah defense, whereas the Utes must prepare for a new-look UCLA offense that is operating under first-year Bruin offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone.
The lone Pac-12 North battle on Saturday takes place in Pullman, where Washington State entertains Cal as both teams try to inch closer to .500. In another show of blog solidarity (“blogidarity”, maybe? I’ll run with it), CougCenter grills California Golden Blogs about Cal, while California Golden Blogs has some questions of its own for CougCenter. Also, here are some Washington State-Cal score predictions, not recommended for Coug fans reading.
You know what else Saturday means in Pullman? Mike Leach Bobblehead Day!!!! Think you could get your hands on one for me, Neil Stover?
Two teams have byes this week. With no Oregon game notes to report, let’s look back at one of the Ducks’ best running backs of all time. LaMichael James has no regrets about leaving Oregon a year early for the NFL, even if he hasn’t played a down for the 49ers.
Arizona has always been a big-time basketball school, but RichRod is fully intent on making football relevant in Tucson.